It has been just reporteed that experts were able to find the mechanisms used by viruses to cause cancer. Check out the latest reports about this below.
Viruses use cancer-causing mechanisms
Viral infections are believed to be a major contributor to 10 to 20 percent of cancers globally, making it a significant contributor to the cancer burden around the world.
Recently, researchers from the Cleveland Clinic discovered a mechanism used by Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), a type of virus that causes cancer, which may help us better understand how viruses induce cancer.
A study published in February in the journal Nature Communications discovered that the KSHV virus triggers a specific cellular pathway that influences cell metabolism, growth, and multiplication. In preclinical models, researchers were able to reduce virus replication, halt the progression of lymphoma, and shrink existing tumors by using currently approved breast cancer drugs by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The study’s lead author, Jun Zhao, who holds a doctorate in genetic, molecular, and cellular biology, works at the Cleveland Clinic Florida Research and Innovation Center.
“Our findings have significant implications: viruses cause between 10% to 20% of cancers worldwide, a number that is constantly increasing as new discoveries are made. Treating virus-induced cancers with standard cancer therapies can help shrink tumors that are already there, but it doesn’t fix the underlying problem of the virus,” Mr. Zhao explained in a news release.
He continued and said:
“Understanding how pathogens transform a healthy cell into a cancer cell uncovers exploitable vulnerabilities and allows us to make and repurpose existing drugs that can effectively treat virus-associated malignancies.”
Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus, also known as human herpesvirus 8 (HHV8), is “A type of virus that causes Kaposi sarcoma (a rare cancer in which lesions grow in the skin, lymph nodes, lining of the mouth, nose, and throat, and other tissues of the body). Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus also causes certain types of lymphoma (cancer that begins in cells of the immune system),” according to The National Cancer Institute.
